Elkhart, SJC county students competing in annual food drive

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NAPPANEE, Ind.-Nearly a dozen schools in Michiana are battling for a good cause. This week, students in Elkhart and Saint Joseph County are collecting thousands of pounds of food for “Student Hunger Drive.”

NorthWood High School in Nappanee is one of the schools participating. Not only do they participate in the annual competition, the student council created a separate competition within the school.

About 30 3rd hour classes are collecting food items like jars of peanut butter, cereal boxes and mac and cheese. Each item is worth a certain amount of points.

Collection started on Monday, October 30th and will conclude on Friday, November 3rd.

Not only will NorthWood crown a winning class with a pizza party and milk and cookies, but Student Hunger Drive will crown a few winners with cash prizes for the overall competition.

“It’s a core value and it’s definitely something that we as a public school want to continue to promote and that is charity and being able to give back,” said AJ Risedorph, a NorthWood Social Studies Teacher and Student Council Advisor.

During last year’s overall competition, NorthWood tied with New Prairie for “Most Overall Pounds Raised Per Student.” The Nappanee high school collected 18,000 pounds and won $500.

“It’s part of our morals that they instilled in our community,” said Kira Robinson, a NorthWood Junior. “We’re community based and Christian based, so it’s something they already instilled in us that they expect us to do, but encourage us at the same time.”

2016’s food drive raised 124,049 pounds of food. Each school picks a specific charity to donate to through “Student Hunger Drive.” NorthWood will give their goods to “Open Door” and the Family Christian Development Center in Nappanee.